CIRCUIT BOARDS
EMC to acquire US firm
Printed circuit board (PCB) maker Elite Material Co’s (EMC, 台光電子材料) board of directors has approved the acquisition of a 100 percent equity interest in EMD Specialty Materials LLC in a bid to swiftly establish a North American manufacturing base and expand to the US to meet long-term market demand, Elite Material said in a regulatory filing yesterday. The Rancho Cucamonga, California-based EMD makes high-performance laminate and “prepregs” — composite materials that have a preimpregnated reinforcement fiber — used in PCB applications in the aerospace, defense and semiconductor industries. The US$28.73 million transaction would be completed with its own funds, Elite Material said.
STEELMAKERS
Tung Ho expansion approved
Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corp (東和鋼鐵) yesterday said that its board of directors approved a budget of NT$905.78 million (US$31.7 million) to expand its Taoyuan processing center. The aim of the investment is to provide steel rebar to its downstream companies, as well as expand its steel business, Tung Ho said in a regulatory filing. The amount is the total budget approved by the board, not the amount incurred, it said. Tung Ho reported revenue of NT$37.99 billion in the first 11 months of this year, down 7.62 percent from NT$41.13 billion in the same period last year.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Chang Wah inks loan deal
Semiconductor materials supplier Chang Wah Technology Co Ltd (長華科技) yesterday signed a NT$7.2 billion syndicated loan deal with a consortium of seven banks arranged by First Commercial Bank (第一銀行). The company said that it plans to use the funds for capacity expansion and acquisitions. The other banks are Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行), Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (台灣土地銀行), Mega International Bank (兆豐銀行) and Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行). The financing shows that the banks support and have confidence in the company, Chang Wah said.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai to issue bonds
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday said that it would issue NT$12 billion in unsecured corporate bonds. The bonds are to be sold in four tranches: a five-year tranche with a coupon rate of 0.53 percent, a seven-year tranche at 0.63 percent, a 10-year tranche at 0.68 percent and a 15-year tranche at 0.9 percent, Hon Hai said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It did not give the amount of each tranche, saying only that it would use the proceeds from the sale to repay short-term debt. As of the end of September, Hon Hai’s net assets stood at NT$1.33 trillion.
EQUITIES
Foreign investors offload
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$11.94 billion of shares after they offloaded a net NT$20.39 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said on Monday. United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Tatung Co (大同) were the top three shares that they sold, while Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), Evergreen Marine Corp (Taiwan) Ltd (長榮海運) and Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子) were the top three that they bought, the exchange said. As of Friday last week, foreign investors this year sold a net NT$593.15 billion of shares, while they accounted for 44.76 percent of the market’s capitalization over the period, it said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
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